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Updated: Feb 7, 2026

The Evolution of Silica Nanoparticle-polyester Coatings on Surfaces Exposed to Sunlight
Published on: October 11, 2016
Photocontrolled self-assembly of silica nanoparticles at two scales
Chang Peng1, Tianqi Zeng1, Yong Yu1
1College of Science, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, PR China.
Abstract:
The photocontrolled self-assembly of coumarin-functionalized silica nanoparticles is fabricated and investigated. When these nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed in CHCl3 solution under 365 nm light illumination, four novel kinds of patterns are self-assembled on the bottom of glass beakers: circle patterns, square plate patterns, semi-annular and annular patterns, swirling patterns, which can be seen with the naked eye. Furthermore, these four patterns exhibit similar nanoscale morphologies: ring-like necklaces in nanoscale dimensions, and reveal interesting superhydrophobic property. In short, there exist two kinds of self-assembly of functionalized silica nanoparticles in two radically different dimensions, which can be potentially applied in self-cleaning fields and the construction of photocontrolled nanoscale structures and macroscale structures.
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